Managing Micro Edge Policies in ETM Dashboard: Templates

Overview

Configuration templates enable the admin to replicate a type of configuration across multiple devices. This is useful if you want to have a standby failover system, or if you manage multiple deployments that require matching types of configuration.

Templates are configured directly in ETM Dashboard, without needing to access a specific Micro Edge.

Templates are available in two varieties: Policy templates and Global templates. Policy templates are configured and applied as part of a Policy, while Global templates are applied directly to appliances via the Assignment tab. The following chart details the types of templates available under each variety.

Global templates are configured & applied via the Assignment tab. For more details, please refer to this article: Managing Micro Edge Policies in ETM Dashboard: Assignment

Templates are managed in Appliances > Micro Edge Policies. This page also provides a listing of all centrally-managed Policies associated with this ETM Dashboard account.

Templates vs. Rules

A template can be thought of as an entire application's configuration. For example, a Web Filter Template includes the Category, Block Sites, and Pass Sites sections of Web Filter's configuration.

By comparison, a Rule is simply that: a single rule within the specified app. A Geo-IP Filter Rule might block traffic to and from a single country.

A Template is best used when you want multiple instances of the application configured identically. A Rule is best used when you need to create a single, specific condition: 'block this website' or 'block incoming traffic from this country', for example.

If you are using both Templates and Rules, both are pushed to appliances and will be evaluated accordingly.

Creating a new template

First, from the navigation tabs along the top of the page, select Templates. Click Create New and select the appropriate type of template from the drop-down list that appears.

Each template will have its own options & configuration settings, which are configured as you would configure that setting in an individual Micro Edge. For example, configuring a Web Filter template has the same options as configuring Web Filter directly: a Name for the template, settings to block Categories or individual pages, and Pass Site entries.

When you are finished creating your template, click the Save button.

Managing templates

From the main table of templates, click on any template to open the settings for that template. Hovering over the template will reveal additional option buttons in the Policies column:

• the pencil icon opens the policy settings for editing
• the duplicate icon creates a copy of the highlighted policy and opens it for editing
• the trash can icon deletes the highlighted policy

The table also provides the following global option buttons:

• Export CSV exports a comma-separated list of your rules. (This is identical to the table listing on this page.)
• Refresh refreshes the list of templates.
• Delete … enables bulk deletion of templates.

Syncing templates

As templates are part of Micro Edge Policies, they cannot be individually synchronized. They are automatically synced when the parent Policy is synced.